[ NNSquad ] Re: P2P resource taking (was Re: pcap files of the Comcast forgeries?)

[Brett Glass <nnsquad@brettglass.com>]

At 02:54 PM 12/18/2007, Wes Felter wrote:

> In the phone network we have "caller pays" (regular calls) and
> "callee pays" (toll-free, collect). I see P2P as a form of "receiver
> pays" for Internet data transfer. I suspect that allowing both models
> will increase efficiency by allowing data transfers to take place
> that would be uneconomical under a "sender pays" model.

Unfortunately, P2P is more like "telephone company pays."

Think about it this way. Suppose I operate a buffet-style 
restaurant. You pay for a meal, and I give you "all you can eat," 
knowing that even if you are a championship eater and stuff your 
face 'til it hurts, I might just break even but won't take a loss on you.

Now, some shady character approaches you and offers you something 
of value (money, software, pirated music or movies, or what have 
you) to smuggle food out of the buffet to 20, 30, maybe even 
hundreds of waiting comrades. He even provides you with a way of 
getting the food out of the restaurant.

If I, the owner, see this scam going on, I'm 100% within my rights to stop you.

This is exactly analogous what's happening with Kazaa, Gnutella, 
BitTorrent, etc. They're relying on the fact that most Internet 
customers have accounts either with no limits or relatively high 
limits on the amount of bandwidth they can consume, and are 
providing people with software that takes advantage of the ISP by 
taking that bandwidth to benefit third parties. The ISP, like the 
buffet owner, has every right to cry foul.

And they are.

--Brett Glass